The 70’s Just-In-Time philosophy gave birth to diverse models that aim to optimize processes. One of the newest and most effective is Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM).
QRM is an optimization methodology based on logistics that looks to reduce manufacturing’s critical-path time by eliminating downtime in the operation of both the production and administration departments. It targets industries for which product customization is common.
Even though Rajan Suri, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was the first to mention this method in 1981, it was until 1193 that the Center for Quick Response Manufacturing was founded.
The main goal of this method is to decrease the time of internal and external operations and to give quick response to the needs of customers with customized design and manufacturing.
Just like Lean Manufacturing and the Theory of Restrictions (TOC), it focuses on saving time and lowering hidden costs. Today, more than ever before, companies are looking to save on their supply chains, and this savings do not come only from better negotiations with suppliers, but also from optimizing processes.
When a company implements QRM, it does so across the whole company. Departments like procurement, shipping, finance, and human resources must also apply the techniques, analytical tools, and methodologies to ensure lowering delivery times, since these are not determined only by manufacturing processes.
Companies which regularly implement QRM are those who manufacture advanced-engineering products in small lots, and those who have a vast number of SKUs with fluctuating demand. After implementing the QRM, these companies obtain great benefits:
This model focuses on the Manufacturing Critical-Path Time (MCT); in other words, the time it takes for an order to be fulfilled, since the moment customers place their orders, to the moment they get them after going through a critical path.
Just like the Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) method, QRM is based on creating multidisciplinary teams or cells formed by salespeople, engineers, and manufacturing personnel, among others. Each cell is responsible for a group of products through the whole process: from sale to delivery. When keeping a specific team throughout a whole process is not an option, we must focus only on the most critical stage, which usually presents the most queues, stock, and delays.
One of logistics’ greater challenges is to lower stocks as much as possible and show flexibility when facing the unpredictability of interruptions in the supply chain. Prior models are no longer useful for this new environment because they focus only on meeting requisites such as control of expenditures, warehouse management, geographical restrictions, distribution channels, and priority deliveries, instead of focusing on improving the level of customer satisfaction.
Methodologies like QRM and Demand Driven Material Requirements Planning (DDMRP) will be the only ones with the ability to adapt to new logistics processes because they provide the necessary elasticity and flexibility to provide the best customer experience. Furthermore, these models will be the ones better matching the emerging technologies (Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Robotics) thanks to their agile approach that considers changes in the demand and behavior of clients.
More than just lower delivery times, QRM means also lower costs thanks to keeping lower stocks, making fewer mistakes, and fewer unfulfilled orders for specific products.
Implementing QRM requires involving the whole organization – including the logistics department – in the process, as well as the manufacturing systems, especially those that affect delivery deadlines.
The efficiency of this model allows greater visibility of the clients’ needs, which results in a higher rate of on-time deliveries and, thus, in an improved customer satisfaction.